Wanderer 3: Tainted Universe (25 page)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Greenseed Station

Marsh stared dully at his screens as the latest freighter left the area, its hold crammed full of food.  He’d lost count of the number of ships that had arrived.  Far more left intact than were destroyed, but the second number was still far higher than he wanted.

How had it come to this?  Greenseed was supposed to be an easy assignment.  No combat.  No danger.  No having to make the decisions about who got to live and who would die.  The posting had turned into a nightmare.  One he showed no signs of waking up from.

The stress was taking its toll.  Marsh knew that.  He’d dealt with stress before, but never so consistently and for so long.

“Incoming ship.”

Marsh fought a shudder.  He hated those words now.  He was starting to wish everyone would just leave Greenseed alone, even if that meant tens of thousands starving to death.  If the Empire couldn’t contain the tainted then food only delayed the inevitable.  Anyone receiving the food from Greenseed would live just to starve later, or to be overwhelmed by the Taint.

“What are we dealing with?” Marsh asked curtly.

“
I don’t believe it.  Commander… it’s the
Willow
.”

Gasps of surprise rang out around the room.  Marsh felt his stomach hit the floor.  No.  Not the
Willow
.

“
Are you sure,” he asked.

“
No doubt Commander.  It’s them.”

The watch officer’s voice was enthusiastic.  The mood in the room was excited.  Happy.  Exactly what Marsh had feared.  Maybe there was hope though.  Maybe the
Willow
had returned empty, its mission complete.

“
Incoming message,” the comms officer called out.  “It’s Captain Blunt.”

“
Put it through,” Marsh said.

He would have preferred to take the call in private, but that wasn’t an option.  For days the mood amongst those working for him had been brittle, ready to break.  Now they were excited at seeing the
Willow
return.  Any sign from Marsh that this wasn’t a good thing could be enough to destroy the fragile bonds keeping them in line.  Even the guards around the room looked excited at the news.  Marsh longed for his days as captain of a warship, for the discipline of those he’d commanded back then.  His thoughts were interrupted by his screen flaring into life.

“
Commander Marsh!  You’re a sight for sore eyes.  We worried that something might have happened to Greenseed.”

“
Welcome back Calvin,” Marsh replied.

To his surprise he meant it.  Calvin Blunt and he had hit it off from the first time they met.  Both men had left the Imperial navy to find posts in the civilian side of the Empire.  They shared a common background and outlook on life.

“Thanks Commander.  It’s good to be back, believe me.”

“
Did you manage to complete your mission?”

Blunt’s face clouded over.  Marsh knew that bad news was coming.

“No Commander.  We couldn’t.  Everywhere we went was locked down tight.  From fleets to stations to planets we got the same message time and time again.  They were closed.  Any attempt to get close would lead to our destruction.

“
We tried everywhere Commander.  In the end we realised Greenseed was the only place that would take our passengers.  So we came home.”

Marsh cursed in his head.  His worse fears were turning out to be true.  The
Willow
carried nearly two thousand people, half of them children.  People that potentially carried the Taint.  People that those on Greenseed would never turn away, because the
Willow
carried their own children and relatives.

At the time it had seemed the right thing to do.  With rumours of the tainted becoming stronger, and no sign of the Empire sweeping in to counter the threat, someone had suggested getting at least some of those on Greenseed to safety.

The idea had quickly been taken up, though it became obvious that few parents would let their children go alone.  The threat from the tainted wasn’t immediate enough to make that seem a reasonable choice.  After much discussion a lottery was set up for anyone to enter.

Marsh had argued for excluding the most critical people, but had been persuaded that would create bad feeling for no good reason.  The number of places available was far smaller than the number seeking to go.  The odds of losing more than one or two specialists were extremely low.

The draw had been carried out.  Those chosen gathered their children and said their goodbyes.  The
Willow
had set off on a wave of hope.  Even those left behind were positive.  The
Willow
would return to evacuate more people once it had found a safe haven, and it would help remind the authorities of how important Greenseed was.  Everyone expected the
Willow
to return quickly, either with or just ahead of a large defensive fleet.

As days turned into weeks it became clear things hadn’t gone as planned.  Marsh found himself hoping the passengers had been delivered safely at least.  Soon everyone put thoughts of the
Willow
out of their heads.  The possibilities were simply too painful, and they’d almost certainly never know what had happened.

Yet here the
Willow
was.  Returning to Greenseed.  Still carrying all those who had left.  Marsh knew that turning them away would be impossible.  So would demanding that they stay outside the exclusion zone.  Almost everyone on Greenseed had a friend or relative aboard the
Willow
, even the guards that Marsh was using to keep control.

That left Marsh with two options.  Let them dock or destroy them.  The
Willow
was already nearing the exclusion zone.  The defensive weaponry had automatically locked on.  Marsh just needed to confirm the attack for the
Willow
, and its passengers, to be history.

“
Captain Blunt.  Calvin.  It’s not that easy.  You’ve been away from us for a long time.  How do we know your ship isn’t under control of the tainted?”

Marsh wasn’t sure what reaction he’d expected.  Indignation maybe.  Passionate denials.  Certainly not a wry and understanding smile.

“I know Steven.  I’ve thought of nothing else since we decided to return home.  After being turned away by so many places how could I not?”

Marsh stared at his friend, fingers hovering above the final key needed to ensure the destruction of the
Willow
.  Was there anything Calvin could do that would convince him?

“
Did you find a solution?” Marsh asked.

“
No.  There isn’t one.  I can show you the records which prove nothing and no one came into contact with the ship, but they could be faked.  I can show you real-time pictures of everyone on the ship, together with their medical scans, but all of that could be forged.  Or we might be hiding newcomers on board who are tainted.  I can give you a virtual tour of the entire ship, but even if you believed it wasn’t faked we could easily be moving people around so you never saw them.”

Marsh just nodded. His fingers were aching to complete the command, to unleash hell upon the
Willow
.  He resisted.  Just.

“
Ultimately it’s down to trust Steven.  It’s down to me looking you in the eyes and swearing that I would never do anything to harm Greenseed.  If I had the slightest doubt that the
Willow
was clean we would never have returned here.”

Marsh stared into Calvin’s face for several seconds, trying to read what was there.  Calvin looked no different.  He was acting no differently.  And he was right.  Marsh knew that Calvin would never willingly place Greenseed in danger.

What if it wasn’t Calvin though?  What if he had fallen to the Taint?  Would a tainted one be able to behave so much like the original person?  Would they be able to fool such a good friend?

Marsh had no idea.  All he knew for sure was that his fingers itched.  He was almost desperate to complete the fire command, to make the problem go away for good.  A small part of him still knew that wouldn’t be the end though.  The fragile control he’d managed to keep over those on Greenseed would be shattered.  He had to weigh the potential risk of the
Willow
harbouring some who were tainted against the certainty of losing control if he chose to destroy the ship.

“
Balfazac brandy,” he said suddenly.

Calvin laughed.  “Oh god.  What a night that was.  I couldn’t see straight for three days.  You never did tell me where you got that bottle, but there was no way it was vintage.  Someone scammed you there.”

Marsh held his breath and let his hand fall, striking a key.  Not the key needed to fire the weapons.  The key removing the prepared order.  He couldn’t bring himself to destroy the ship.  Not without strong proof that those on the
Willow
had fallen to the Taint.

“
Welcome home Captain Blunt,” Marsh said.

“
Thanks Commander Marsh,” replied Calvin, a relieved smile on his face.  “I can’t wait to see you again in person.”

Marsh smiled tightly in reply.

*****

Marsh stared at his screen as the
Willow
finished docking.  The docking process was once a routine event.  Now it seemed strange.  No freighter had been allowed to dock since before the
Willow
set out.

He’d taken all possible precautions.  Almost every guard he had was down in the docking bay.  Some to go into the
Willow
and ensure it was safe, but most to hold back the crowds of friends and relatives desperate to see their loved ones.

These were the same people who had regarded the arrival of every ship with fear, yet they seemed blind to the possibility that there could be tainted aboard the
Willow
.

Marsh went over his impressions of those on the
Willow
once more.  They seemed tired and strained, but that was natural after their journey.  They seemed to be in good spirits at the thought of returning to Greenseed.  Again, that was completely natural.  It did little to ease his mind though.

As the
Willow
’s cargo bay doors slid open those waiting outside started to cheer.  The crowd surged forward.  The guards trying to keep order had to give ground.

“
No…” Marsh whispered in horror.  “Don’t let them through…”

For a moment it seemed the line of guards would give, but they rallied and held the line.  The waiting crowd took it with good grace.

“Ready to go in Commander,” reported Lanson, the leader of the guards.

“
Go ahead.  And for god’s sake be careful.”

“
We will commander.  We will.”

Marsh switched his view to that of Lanson, watching through a head mounted camera.  Software worked to smooth out the worst of the bobbing around but it was still far from smooth.  Another reminder of how different his life was now.  There was a time he wouldn’t have noticed at all.  A time when overseeing his men like this was a frequent occurrence.  A time long gone.

Lanson waited as the first wave of guards rushed in, then followed behind.  Waiting within the
Willow
was a small group of people.  They all looked slightly nervous but otherwise perfectly normal.  The guards checked them over thoroughly, looking for any signs of illness, then moved on.  More guards followed behind.  The
Willow
was a big freighter.  This was going to take some time.

*****

Marsh checked the mission timer.  Ten minutes had passed since the first guards had entered the
Willow
.  So far they had covered roughly a third of the ship and found nothing out of the ordinary.

Those on board the
Willow
were taking the delay well, though many asked how soon they could get off and see their families.  The children were finding it hardest.  Several times the guards had come across groups of kids who could barely contain their energy.  After so long on board the ship they were desperate to get outside.

Marsh had ensured guards with family aboard the
Willow
weren’t part of the boarding party.  Seeing the children reinforced that decision.  No one could be blamed for letting his guard down when confronted by a niece, nephew or grandchild.

“
Commander!  Incoming ships!” shouted the watch officer.

Marsh snapped his attention back to the operations room.  Sure enough there were ships approaching, and approaching fast.  Very fast.  Twelve of them.

“What the hell are they?” he demanded.